Saudi Arabia: Plans to Defy Ban on Women Drivers this Saturday

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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – A grassroots campaign will call for an end to the driving ban for women in Saudi Arabia on Saturday March 29.

Amnesty International is calling on the Saudi Arabian authorities to respect the right of women to defy the ban by driving this weekend and to end the harassment of supporters of the campaign.

A number of activists who took part in the Oct. 26 Women Driving campaign last year were detained by the Ministry of Interior. They were then forced to sign pledges not to repeat the "offence" before being released.

Men who supported the campaign were also targeted. Tariq Al-Mubarak, a schoolteacher and activist who was among those detained, was held for more than a week without charge and interrogated about his involvement with the group.

A few days before Oct. 26, the campaign's website was hacked and the authorities blocked its online petition.

More than 100 women in Saudi Arabia claim to have defied the ban so far. In January, the authorities seized the car of Tadamur Al Yami a mother of two, who posted a video of herself driving in Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world in which women are not allowed to drive. Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Saudi Authorities to abolish the ban.

To arrange an interview with Amnesty International or supporters of the campaign inside Saudi Arabia (English and Arabic speakers) contact:

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.